Touring Bike FAQ #7: What Should I Remember Before Handing Over My Cash?

There are a few aspects of touring bike choice so utterly basic that they’re often lost in the quagmire of internet-based research.

This is particularly the case when browsing websites for advice on touring bikes: features and technical specifications are a lot easier to talk about than the all-important intangibles.

In this final Touring Bike FAQ article, we’ll look at a few of the key concerns for you as a bicycle buyer, builder or tweaker that should always precede specification- or technology-based worries, particularly when it comes to handing over your hard-earned cash.

1. Does It Feel Right? (a.k.a. Go For A Test Ride)

By far the most important criteria for a bike you’re going to be riding all day, every day, is whether or not it feels right when you ride it.

This is something that months of theoretical research into touring bikes will never tell you, and something that you’ll discover within a few seconds of actually trying one out.

For a short trip, if the bike you already own is comfortable enough, why change it? Even a bike that perhaps doesn’t feel perfect is still unlikely to cause problems for short, spontaneous, drop-everything-and-go trips. Assuming you haven’t forgotten to bring a multi-tool, you’ll be able to adjust various bits of the bike until it feels less uncomfortable. Miracles can be performed through saddle adjustment alone. Handlebars are easy to raise or lower.

For anything longer, or involving any kind of significant time and money investment, though, you can barely afford to risk an expensive, carefully-chosen bicycle feeling all wrong when it arrives by courier in a big cardboard box.

The most common cause of discomfort when cycling for longer periods of time is to do with incorrect sizing. Unless you’re already an experienced cyclist who can hazard a guess as to the best of nine or ten size options, the easiest way to get this right is to get sized up at your local bike shop. You’ll be able to test-ride a variety of bikes, and when you settle on buying one, they’ll be able to adjust or swap components that affect fit.

The result? A touring bike that feels right. If you’re going to be spending the majority of your waking hours on it, there’s not much more important than that.

(What? You were thinking about buying a touring bike online without test-riding it first…?)

2. Does It Suit Your Touring Style? (a.k.a. Choose The Right Tool For The Job)

Not all touring bikes are built for the same kind of touring. That’s why, when choosing a bike, it’s really important to start by considering the demands of the trip you have in mind. Your ride should dictate your bike, rather than your bike dictating your ride.

Fast, light, on-road and short-term is a combination usually found together in touring.

At the extreme end of this scale are ‘credit card tours’, in which the traveller packs little more than a toothbrush, a credit card and the clothes on their back, and travels with the philosophy that they’ll buy what they need when circumstance demands it (including accommodation). The Himalayas have been crossed by bicycle in this way, though it might be worth starting out with something a little less ambitious.

Road and hybrid bikes with minimal luggage carrying abilities are fine for this kind of touring, and the niche is well served by the numerous light touring bikes on offer.

Slow, heavy, rough-road and long-term are likely to co-incide too.

Many years ago, on a deserted road in Egypt’s Sinai peninsular, I met Katya and Mirko, a Slovenian couple who truly did live on their bikes.

Their heavy-duty mountain bikes were piled high with luggage; a guitar sat atop a heap of jewellery-making equipment in a two-wheeled cargo trailer. From there, they would ride to Israel, where they would spend time making and selling jewellery in order to fund the next stage of their journey through life. At the time of writing they are riding through South-East Asia.

For those in it for the long haul, heavy-duty ‘expedition’ bikes are available, if not as commonly seen as your standard road tourer. They’re built specifically to cater for the demands of fully-loaded world travel, and you’ll find they differ in a few very specific ways from ‘standard’ touring bikes.

Most tours fall somewhere in the middle. You are not breaking records, but you do want to feel like you’ve got somewhere at the end of a day. You’ll carry the essentials for riding, camping and cooking in varying weather, but pack a few personal luxuries too. Roads will comprise the majority of your trip, but your might find yourself on a dirt track every now and then. You’ll usually ride for a few weeks at a time, make a few shorter trips closer to home, and occasionally go for a Big Ride.

The majority of bikes sold as ‘touring bikes’ are designed to cater for this broad category of rider. If this is the first time you’ve been asked to think about your specialist touring requirements, it’s likely you fit this category, and you’ll be pleased to hear that you’ve got bags of choice.

If a mainstream tourer doesn’t fit your plans, on the other hand, consider a custom expedition build. You might also find inspiration in my personal bikeography, covering the bikes I’ve used myself over the last few years of touring.

That’s it for the Touring Bike FAQ series! I hope you’ve found it useful. Further questions about touring bikes? Ask away in the comments below…

6 Responses to “Touring Bike FAQ #7: What Should I Remember Before Handing Over My Cash?”

Senior Mentor

When making a month long tour along the Rhine River & through part of Italy I made the mistake of buying an expedition bike. My luggage was already too heavy so getting off and onto trains and changing platforms was very difficult.
To save money I bought a 7 speed bike and when riding into the wind and up hills I dearly wished that I had paid more and got a 9 or 10 speed so I wasn’t constantly shifting up and down with every gust of wind.

Mark Kamp

Hi, I have been up to now a 95% tarmac tourer, so I’ve got an old Bob Jackson 531st 25″ touring bike with randonneur handlebars and 21 speed. I’ve cycled over the Swiss Alps, all the way to Greece, Corsica, Denmark, Scotland, Italy, France several times and (North Yorkshire-have you seen how steep some of the roads are- the worst I’ve come across!)
It’s suited me perfectly. I have done some of road, bur never been in too much of a hurry so I didn’t bust the bike. I’ve tried trekking bars and straight bars but randonneur bars work best for me. I still have a wider gear range than my daughters brand new 20 speed Raleigh Clubman. The vintage tourers are really still quite adequate in my view. But as you say Tom it really is horses for courses. For me the big issue is where your heading and if your going to the land of the 26″ wheel, you’ll need an adapted mountain bike or expedition bike

ferruccio

I don’t think the number of speeds is that important, you can mount a 22 x 36 or even a 20 x 36 on a 7 speed, I think you had an inadequate choice of gearing.
an expedition bike is not that heavy, the luggage to put into it is, looks like you were travelling which too much stuff.
I don’t think it’s a matter of money rather of making the right choices for your needs.
happy trails.

Shaun

I would suspect the problem with your bike was not the weight, though that may be significant if it was cheap, but the gearing. Are you sure it’s not what the Germans call a ‘trekking bike’? The cheaper end of which tend to be geared for use about town, not touring.

8 speed with a WIDE 11-34t cassette and WIDE 22-32-44t mountain bike chainset. ie. it’ll winch you up any hill and still be plenty fast on the flat, especially loaded. It’s not the number of gears, it’s the range that is important.

Walter McCandlish

Im trying to get hold of the new Kona Sutra 2016 and having paid my deposit it appears that they are not available until late December I have been offered a Chinellie HoBootleg touring bike but I don’t know anything about them …anyone done any reviews on them or have any knowledge about them would be really helpful. thanks